


Ashes to Ashes

by SilyaBeeodess



Series: Tales of the Fire Spirits [7]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22417168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilyaBeeodess/pseuds/SilyaBeeodess
Summary: Someone has to craft the paintings that help fuel the fire spirits' ritual flames. Someone has to look after them.  It was her duty, wasn't it?  Whether she wanted for it or not.
Series: Tales of the Fire Spirits [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613302
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Ashes to Ashes

Glittering ashes danced across the wind. Normally, they'd parade through Subcon before channeling into the fire spirits' domain, filtered either upon the wide, thick petals prepared in advance to contain them or into the beds of eternally burning embers that would nest any newborn pups upon rebirth. However, as a warm ivory hand raised toward them upon entering a land of fire and smoke, part of the ashes spiraled to the figure's waiting hold—lacing around delicate fingers before collecting neatly in her palm.

How long had she been doing this? Too many seasons had come and went: She had long forgotten the passing of years and even her own name was lost to time. She had forgotten to mourn for her fragmented past, embracing the role her adopted family had given her as Keeper of the Paintings. In time for each of the elders' ritual dances, she created enough of the cursed objects for them to scatter across Subcon and, in return, they hunted for trinkets to help keep her content for as long as she stayed among them.

She loved the fire spirits just as much as she despised them. They were good to her and meant well, even if they were also responsible for her imprisonment and every ounce of loneliness that plagued the woman's long life. They had brought her to their home, taken care of her, and refused to let her leave. They liked her too much to let her die, their own magic running through her veins and maintaining her youth, but at the cost of her body mutating into a humanoid form of their own kin.

Sometimes, she wondered, if she ever did escape Subcon then maybe the fire spirit's magic would eventually leave her. Once again, she could walk under a blue sky among her own people, just before her age would at last catch up to her and her body would collapse from the strain of the years. She'd risk _anything_ for that one moment… But did she really want that? And who would look after the spirits once she was gone? With the forest in ruin, they had come to rely on her paintings to sustain them, because the life energy they captured ensured a healthy resurrection. It was a craft she had invented specifically for them, which—unfortunately—they couldn't replicate on their own.

It was the same reason she chose to stay hidden from the Shadow that ruled the forest. In past years, the fire spirits had hidden her deep within their realm to keep her from leaving: Now, she could explore as far as the outer limits of the burning trees. The spirits told her all sorts of grim stories about him, how he chased them back into their own territory, kept them from having their fun, and stole away many of the travelers they had wanted to play with for his own, grim purposes. He would steal her away too, if he knew she existed. But so long as she didn't linger by the borders of their domain for too long, no one would ever find her—not even him.

Golden eyes shimmered as she stared at the ashes still gathered in her hand. She could not leave the fire spirits, but she could bring the occasional wanderer to her. The paintings themselves may have been destroyed in the ritual fires, but the records of their victims were still there, contained within their remains. All they needed was tiny spark. Summoning a fragment of her magic, she ignited the ashes. They took to flame in a burst of red light, a ring of smoke of the same color coiling before her with a human shape manifesting in its center.

Her eager expression shifted to one of disappointment as the typical, bulky form of a Mafia member floated before her. At first, he was disoriented from the summons—they all were, every time—but when he finally composed himself enough to take in his surroundings, he looked at her in astonished terror. That too was fine. She was used to it. It had been a long time since she'd last seen her own reflection, but she knew it was a far-cry from her former self: Eyes as piercing as a wild animal's; nails and canines sharpened; vivid markings tracing her cheeks, wrists, and ankles all too much like the fire spirits' own—just like the ears and tail that extended from her body; hair pulled back while still managing to frame her narrow face in a tangled mane of ginger locks that swept down in an ombre glow, mimicking a roaring flame.

She didn't like it either.

Out of all her painting's victims, the Mafia Goons were her least favorite. Most of them were dull, brash, and uninteresting brutes who thought more of themselves than she—or likely anyone else—ever could. One hardly deviated from another and they even talked about many of the same things. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it wasn't uncommon for them to appear in Subcon and they never seemed to learn not to come back.

Nevertheless, decent entertainment was hard to find. The fire spirits were pickier with who they brought to their domain and travelers were rare. Besides the foxes themselves, this was the only way she could get any sort of company or news from the outside world—and only then for a short time. If whoever she tried to keep by her side didn't please the spirits, then they would have to go. Just not before she'd gotten something she wanted.

"From 'Mafia Town,' yes?" she asked the goon before he could fully come to terms with his situation. She had adopted the bare-essential speech that many of the spirits used to talk to her, and rarely fell out of it unless she was speaking to another person for an extended length of time. Not that it was much different from his own curt tongue for her to adapt from anyway. "By the ocean, yes?"

He blinked at her myopically, still stunned, before giving her a rapid nod. He swallowed hard. "Is Mafia…?"

"Dead? No. Contained," she held up the ashes. "In these." It was all the explanation she was going to give him. She had explained herself more times than she could count over the years and she still had to sort through the rest of the gathered ashes from that season's ritual. Hopefully with far better prospects. "I can let you go though. Restore you as you were."

Since the physical body was never truly destroyed, the same magic that rejuvenated the fire spirits could revive her victims. All it would take was for her to scatter the ashes in a single breath to send them flying back across the forest and over the boundaries of the spirits' territory where they would re-manifest as their old selves. After that, they'd have to find their own way out of Subcon, feeling significantly weakened for a while thanks to the depletion of their life energy, but otherwise no worse for wear. Considering that her presence had remained a secret for this long, they probably even reformed thinking that their meeting had only been a dream.

"What spirit want with Mafia?"

Wrong as he was, she wondered if maybe this one wasn't as dull as the rest. He was to the point at least. "News," she answered, "or a story. Anything interesting." Although it really was just talk, she honestly wasn't expecting much. There were a handful of exceptions, but both the past and day-to-day events of any goon's life seemed to greatly match their companions', much to her dissatisfaction.

His face twisted as he thought hard over her offer. It was a simple bargain and she was more than likely to send him soaring off before he had even fulfilled his end of it. He didn't know that though, expecting a catch, and she couldn't help getting a sick joy of watching him sweat. His fears weren't without merit: If he somehow proved _too_ interesting, she might keep him for a while just so he could finish his stories, but she'd never met a Mafia she wanted around her for long since they first visited Subcon.

"M-Mafia knows good story!" he finally exclaimed, wavering to keep his wispy form steady in the ring of smoke. "It true story also!"

"Is it now?"

"Yes, about little hat girl! She came to Mafia Town, caused much trouble!" His face turned from desperate to frustrated at his own, inner musings when he spoke, "Even bested Boss and kicked Mafia…"

Her brows lifted in surprise. What? No fishing tales? No 'funny stories' about harassing seagulls or old people in the street? That alone caught her off-guard, and his words seemed familiar… The younger fire spirits who had returned from the forest were also whispering about a hatted newcomer in Subcon.

She sat down on a nearby rock, waiting for him to continue. Maybe she would listen to him for a while after all.

**Author's Note:**

> "AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!  
> You blew it! You totally screwed yourself! Nobody reads this chapter without having to meet an OC! Tell you what though! Hang on a minute! This is her only appearance! That's right! Aren't you lucky? Normally I'd write a whole story focusing primarily on my own inserted characters, but you're a lucky one! You've won the lottery, because I just happen to still be exploring different ideas with both her and the canon characters from the game!"   
> Haha, seriously though, for those of you who don't like OCs, don't worry about her popping up in future short stories to this particular series. However, she is featured as one of the characters in a much longer fic, "The Firelands."  
> As for future additions to this series though, while I do have a couple more ideas, they're probably going to take a bit longer to update than the previous ones. I've been on a road trip, so that's why I was able to get a bunch of writing done so quickly. I'm probably going to want to write the newer stories in a similar set-up where I can get multiples of them finished within a short time since most of them are fairly short compared to my other work. Still, feel free to post a review or if there's anything you're interested in possibly seeing experimented with the fire spirits: It might get those creative juices flowing.


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